MLB Insider Reveals How The Jose Ramirez Negotiations Played Out

Jose Ramirez is staying with the Cleveland Guardians.

The Guardians have now locked up their star through the 2027 season.

But over the past several days, rumors have been circulating about Ramirez potentially being traded away.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Guardians were deep in conversations with other teams about a potential trade.

Passan notes that the expectation was if Ramirez and the Guardians couldn’t work out an extension, he would be traded, and the San Diego Padres were one of the teams that felt they had a decent shot to acquire him.

The Guardians have been deep into conversations with teams in recent days about a José Ramirez trade — and the expectation was that if the sides didn’t come to terms on a long-term extension, he was going to be traded. The Padres thought they had a real shot at landing Ramirez.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 6, 2022

Ramirez Stays In Cleveland

It’s no surprise that there were trade discussions surrounding Ramirez.

At this point, the surprise is that the Guardians managed to pull off an extension and keep him around.

There seemed to be a growing expectation that Ramirez would be traded, as Passan points out.

However, those rumors are now a thing of the past, as the Guardians have Ramirez locked up through his age-35 season.

Now, he can be a solid veteran presence on a young team with a burgeoning class of prospects soon to emerge.

But fans can’t help but wonder what changed in the negotiating process between Ramirez and the Guardians.

It seemed inevitable that the Guardians, who are a small market team, would ultimately not go all out to keep Ramirez, and that a trade was coming.

But again, those rumors have been put to rest and Ramirez is locked up as a member of the Guardians for another five seasons.

We’ll see if Cleveland can build a solid team around him in the future.